Native SDK

Native SDK (formerly zero-native) is Vercel Labs' bet that desktop apps don't need a browser inside them. You write the logic in TypeScript or Zig and the views in its own .native markup, and it compiles to a native executable that draws its UI in real OS windows. Electron ships Chromium with every app; this doesn't, unless you opt into embedded web content. Apache 2.0, free.

Setup is npm install -g @native-sdk/cli, then native init and native dev, with hot reload that keeps app state. It needs Node 24 and fetches a pinned Zig toolchain if you lack one. macOS renders through Metal, Windows through Direct2D, Linux through a software renderer, and iOS and Android are experimental. Tests and AI agents can drive a running app through built-in automation.

No paid tier. Solo developers and small teams who want small, fast desktop apps: worth a weekend. Larger teams shipping commercial desktop software should stay on Electron or Tauri, which have far deeper ecosystems.

The catch: Vercel labels it an experiment, it's pre-1.0, and the architecture is still moving fast. You're also learning a new markup and a checked subset of TypeScript, not reusing React and CSS.